By Jennifer Ward The phase out story continues to evolve, taking me into of the most complex aspects of the Oakland Unified School District. If anything, this is a story of struggle with important victories by students, by teachers, that go unseen in the chaotic day to day world of public education in Oakland.
The jaw dropping dysfunction of Oakland Unified Schools administration, next to the school campuses that are lovingly neglected, stand in stark contrast to the whip smart appeal of many of the students and the dogged determination of many teachers, school alumni and grass roots organizations. Everyday, kids are getting it done. They know the score and they plow on. I’m very proud.
But, the students almost seem to be in the middle. You have a district is in constant transition—top level folks with interim in front of their titles. Another new wave solution (in this case small schools) to fix massively sores that have been allowed to fester for decades on. And limited money coming from glamorous non profits (Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation). Communities are in an uproar, teachers are howling and test scores are continuing to sink like a bad bite of seafood.
So the district and its overseers (the state takeover team) move forward without a long term plan. Fast forward a few years and while there are marked success stories, there are also schools clearly struggling. Meanwhile, the free dough from the international nonprofits have dried up and test scores are coming in low from a student population that keeps shrinking.
This is the stew created by the OUSD that has led to small, experimental schools being shut down one grade at a time. Schools a few years old now sending their students to other schools, creating the old, big school models that dominated well into the 2000s.
Posted by Jennifer Ward on 03/23/09
